My experiences in making my own box for the Kikkerland Music Box

1. Creation of a Music
Box-Box
My experiences in making my Passion Project
Yan Vitangcol
Tech X

2. How it all started... I bought a toy called
the Kikkerland Music
Box Kit

3. What’s in it?
● The actual “music box” mechanism
● 4 pieces of sheet music for the
different songs that can be
played, one of which is an
already-punched Happy Birthday
● Puncher to make your own music

4. The Problem:
WHERE’S THE
ACTUAL BOX!??!?
I found it weird for it
to be called a music
box yet it was just
the mechanism that
played the music,
with no actual
MUSIC BOX

5. The Problem:
WHERE’S THE
ACTUAL BOX!??!?
● It was hard to use because it was
hard for it to hold down and play
at the same time
● It looks weird and “raw” on its
own
● It’s a hassle to separately carry
around the sheet music you want to
play and the mechanism itself
● There might be a way to make the
music better heard

6. And so I
thought, what if
I created
something that:
And so I decided
to create the...
● Can be used as a mount for the
mechanism
● Served as a box that makes it look
nicer overall
● Can store both the mechanism and the
sheet music so that you can carry it
around more easily
● Amplifies the music created by the
toy

7. Music Box-Box

8. Compartment
that stores the
sheet music
Mount where
the mechanism
is screwed unto
Walls to
amplify the
music created

9. In creating the Music Box-Box...
It was not all just fun and games

10. Prototype # 1 - Illustration Board
● The first model was made out of
illustration board
● It was this early on that I
already found out the problem I
was going to have: measuring

11. The Mechanism’s Dimensions
● The toy did not have “easy”
measurements, wherein values were
whole numbers or symmetric all the
way
● It had a weird shape, so many
different things had to be
measured carefully to make it fit
exactly in the box

12. The Mechanism’s Dimensions
● Length, width, and height of toy
● Distance from bottom to sheet music
hole
● Length and width of sheet music hole
● Positioning of bottom hole where
music comes out
● Length and Width of bottom hole where
music comes out

13. The Mechanism’s Dimensions
● Size of really small holes for the
nuts and bolts
● Exact positioning of the holes for
the nuts and bolts
● Positioning of hole for handle
● Length and width of hole for handle
ALL OF WHICH WERE MEASURED
WITH JUST A RULER!!!
So yes it was a struggle

14. This was easier with illustration board...
Although it’s harder to manually cut,
measurements are easier because you
can actually put the toy on the board
while cutting

15. But with Acrylic...
It was basically just one big go at it
since I had to make the file beforehand
and let the laser cutter do its thing

16. Prototype #2 - Opaque Red Acrylic
DID NOT FIT!! :((
● I spent so long in making the SVG
files for these only to find out a
lot of things went wrong
● It wasn’t just the mechanism-related
dimensions that were mismeasured
● It was also the measurements of the
other pieces of the structure as a
whole
● So much wasted acrylic :/

17. Prototype #2 - Opaque Red Acrylic
The problems:
● Box for mechanism did not fit
● Side walls were too short
● Mispositioned and mismeasured holes for
nuts and bolts
● Door for compartment was too short
● Base platforms slots were not aligned well
Since measurements were also based
on each other, I had to redo almost
everything :((

18. Prototype #3 - Opaque Red Acrylic
AND IT FIT!! :DD
● After remeasuring carefully and
editing the SVG files for a LONG
time… I tried again and got it to
fit!!!
● The small box for the mechanism
managed to exactly hold the toy with
accurate spacing and dimensions for
everything

19. Prototype #3 - Opaque Red Acrylic
Although less, there
were still problems:
● The door for the compartment was not
the most secure
● The side walls were a little loose
● Personal: opaque acrylic did not
appeal to me as much
AND SO I had to edit the
designs and cut again…

20. Final Design - Transparent Red Acrylic
Changes I made:
● The door was redesigned to make it
look neater and work better
● The side walls were now tighter
● Transparent Acrylic looks way
better!!

21. What did I learn?

22. Lessons 1: You don’t always get it on the first try
● Even if I worked hard in measuring
initially, the pieces in the first
acrylic prototype still did not fit
● Despite feeling tired and unmotivated
immediately after finding out the first
set of acrylic did not fit, I eventually
realized that rarely do people ever get
things right away
● So basically, don’t ever give up, because
I did end up getting it to work, even if
it took more than one attempt
SO MANY FILES

23. Lesson 2: Limited resources, unlimited effort
● As mentioned earlier, the mechanism had very weird,
asymmetrical dimensions that were small and hard to measure
● I however, had no fancy or high-tech measuring tool. I had no
caliper at home, so I was forced to make do with a ruler
● It was hard, there were bumps along the way, but I was still
able to get the measurements I needed despite only having a
ruler!
● Don’t let certain disadvantages prevent you from trying!

24. Lesson 3: There’s always something to improve
● I had more than one prototype because not every element of each
design was perfect
● Just because it works does not mean you should stop there
● Do not settle: if there is a way to make something better than
it currently is, make it better.